Braveheart *SPOILER ALERT*

I attempted to create a structured review of the movie Braveheart based on the notes I took while viewing the movie. It's a bit rough and choppy, as I assumed it would be, this being my first time legitimately writing a movie review, but I'm hoping to get better as I go along. I put in several pictures of particular scenes so you would be able to visualize what I am trying to talk about better. Also, I broke the review up into two separate posts so I did not have one that appeared to drag on forever. Hope you enjoy!

Are the camera angles used effectively? Are they ever used for a particular effect?
The opening scene of the movie is of the camera scanning the Scottish landscapes, the tall mountains, deep valleys, and rushing rivers. This reveals the earth tones used throughout the entire movie to authenticate the scenery of the movie.


Another important angle used in the film is that of the silhouette of William and Murron against the bright blue sky and mountains preceding their marriage. This angle basically emphasizes the importance and passion of their marriage, no matter how short-lived it ended up being.


At the first battle with the English in the movie, the English approach and send a round of arrows towards the Scottish warriors. The arrows are shown in slow motion soaring across the bright blue sky before they come in contact with the Scotts. The effect this angle had on me as a viewer was to emphasize the significance of the first battle in the movie, beginning with the arrows from the British army.

Before they descend for the first battle, Wallace and his men appear at the top of the mountain and are shown charging down to meet the British.

During one of the battle scenes, the camera shows a stampede of horses hooves covered in mud, pounding across the ground. This angle does not add to the plot or overall effect of the story, but I do think it added a bit of originality to the film as I had not seen the angle used very often previously.

Are there special effects in the film? Are  they essential to the plot? Are the handled skillfully?
Obviously, Braveheart is a movie about war and it therefore requires many special effects to make the war scenes seem as believable as possible. To be honest, I'm not very experienced in determining whether a movie has high quality special effects related to battle scenes, but in my opinion, the effects in Braveheart were handled very well. There was a fair amount of men getting shot, which was very bloody, and various limbs were chopped off by both the British and Scotts. One man fell on a fence and a post goes through his body, to me, this scene looked disgusting and yet at the same time, very realistic.


Do the camera speeds create a certain effect?

Slow motion is used when William and his wife Murron look at each other for the first time after getting married. I did not realize this until later in the movie, but the effect of this was in a way to foreshadow her death and symbolize the significance of them getting married, as William would soon be without her love.

Another instance in which slow motion is used is the period of long suspense when both the Scotts and British are shown running at each other in the first battle scene. The effect this seemed to create was simply to emphasize and mark the first battle scene of the movie, which basically was the basis for the rest of the movie.

What effect does what is in focus have on the scene as a whole?
A young William Wallace is shown in the foreground of a particular scene in focus while his father and other warriors come back from battle looking particularly dejected and injured. The scene illustrates his innocence of youth, his heartbreaking reaction to his wounded neighbors, as well as foreshadowing to his will become a strong warrior when he grows up.